Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel plans to take full military control of the Gaza Strip.
In an interview from an US media outlet through Reuters, Netanyahu stated that while Israel does not intend to govern Gaza, it seeks to establish a security perimeter.
“Well, we don’t want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter. We don’t want to govern it. We don’t want to be there as a governing body,” Netanyahu said.
However, he clarified that this move will be for the security of their country and enable to free the population of Gaza against Hamas: “We intend to assure our security, remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza and to pass it to civilian governance—that is not Hamas. Not anyone advocating the destruction of Israel.”
He also added that Israel hopes to eventually hand over control to Arab forces, though he did not specify which countries might be involved.
Some reports also said, among the scenarios also being considered, is the Israeli military will prepare for a phased takeover of areas still outside its control, but will issue evacuation warnings to civilians.
Netanyahu’s plans have sparked backlash from Hamas, which called the plan a “blatant coup” against the ongoing negotiation process.
While the United Nations expressed concern over the possibility of an expanded military campaign.